A/N: This chapter is the most T-rated one. Just so you know.

Further A/N: Revisions posted. Thanks to Lady Storm for her helpful comments!

It was Felldoh who told him that I wanted to see him. Later, the squirrel told me that he honestly didn't know that "there had been anything between" Martin and me, or else he wouldn't have said anything. Apparently, Felldoh had come to sit with Martin as he was lying injured at the gates of the Forest after his battle to free Mossflower. During a break in Martin's sword sparring sessions with Boar the Fighter, the three of them had been chatting about old times and comparing the war with Badrang the previous summer to the one with that cat. Martin had made some comment about fewer sacrifices in the most recent struggle, which made Felldoh chime in with, "Oh, that reminds me! Guess who's been talking about you almost non-stop the whole time you've been here!" At that, it seems, Martin sprang to his footpaws and would have bounded right through the Gates if Boar hadn't managed to restrain him in time.

All I can say to that is, can't that squirrel put two and two together?

Fortunately, Felldoh managed to find me quickly. I had asked Jade to keep me distracted on the other side of the Forest by teaching me how to fly, and when the squirrel showed up waving his paws in panic in the direction of the Gates we both immediately stopped what we were doing. Jade hurried to his side as he sank to his knees, panting. After a few moments the squirrel managed to speak.

"Martin-trying-to get in-"

"WHAT?" I won't trouble to deny the sudden flare of joy that shot through me.

"Wants to-see-you-but you said Windred's visions-said-"

That was true. Windred was the best of the four of us at prophecy, and she had warned us all just after Martin's battle that we were to do what we could to prevent him coming through the Gates unless the healers in Mossflower weren't as talented as she thought they were and he was genuinely succumbing to his wounds. She had foreseen that his role in bringing lasting peace to Mossflower included more than winning the battle. Windred's prophecies were almost always correct and she didn't mind them being generally known, so I had told several of our friends when they speculated about Martin's chances of recovery after fighting a large and ferocious wildcat.

A thrill of terror chased away my joy, and I half-ran, half-flew all the way to the Gates in five minutes flat. When I finally arrived, panting and clutching a stitch in my side, Martin was just outside them, struggling and fighting, trying to run forward. Boar's strength almost did not matter: Martin's smaller paws slipped again and again through the badger's huge ones, the mouse Warrior managing to make his steady way closer to his doom.

I fumbled with the lock, still trying to catch my breath, still fighting the old nausea. As Martin's eyes lifted from the ground and found mine, I found that I had to grip the Gates from dizziness and weakness for the first time in quite awhile. Damn. I had always been proud of how I could keep my mind from shutting down in the face of his handsomeness, but this time, perhaps because I hadn't seen him except at a distance since the previous summer, he was definitely affecting me. It was too late to turn back now, though—I saw wild hope flare in those beautiful gray depths, and his struggling last I managed to rip open the lock, and the Gates creaked open inward. I squeezed through them, stumbled a few steps, and grabbed his shoulders.

"Martin, Martin, no. I don't want this. I don't want—" I stopped, the words catching in my throat. I couldn't lie to him. Letting him run inside the Gates and join me forever was all I wanted in the universe, but it wasn't time yet. That much was clear. "No. Please. Stop fighting. Listen to me."

His squirming stopped. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the Badger Lord release him and retreat back through the Gates, and all of a sudden Martin was pulling me close, drenching my shoulder with his tears. "Rose, don't stop me, this is all for you—for us—let me come with you! I-I-I—" He gulped, trying to swallow hiccups. "I love you."

His words sent a river of fire down to the pit of my stomach. Great Seasons, I've wanted so much to hear you say that for so long, and now that you have I can't do a thing about it.

I swayed and gasped, my paws digging into his back, as my head spun and the gloom over his shoulder swam with little golden specks. Martin clutched me in response and lowered us gently to the ground, making little noises of concern. I sat beside him for a moment, resting my head on the soft fur at the curve of his neck and breathing in his scent, and then pulled away from him a little and looked into his eyes. "I love you too, Martin. That's why I have to do this. Because your life and happiness means more to me than anything."

I kissed him then. I don't know what impulse struck me. But as I shut my eyes, as our noses bumped, as our whiskers tangled, as I felt his chapped lips meet mine, all my embarrassment and uncertainty melted away into the warmth of his paws around me.

Martin broke away first. He wasn't crying anymore. I saw a bright crimson blush rise to his cheeks, and he was smiling. That made my heart beat even faster, and I noticed that I was grinning just as widely. He reached up to disentangle our whiskers, whispering as he did so, "That was my first kiss."

"Mine too." Blood and heat rose to my face, too, and I made a cross-eyed face at him to try to hide my embarrassment.

The Warrior laughed softly as our whiskers came apart and he smiled at me, but soon his eyes grew concerned. "Are you all right? You looked ill."

I smiled even more widely at that. "Yes. Just not used to being outside of the Forest anymore." I fought the impulse to laugh for a few more seconds, and then gave in to it.

"Martin, you're—hahahaha— you're cl-clinging—hehehehe—clinging to life by your pawtips, and you—hahahaha—you want to know if I'm all right?"

Martin's face was blank for a moment, and then the crimson flooding it became even more pronounced. His grin reappeared and widened. Soon we were both laughing, leaning on each other's shoulders for support.

After a moment Martin grew serious again. "There, then. You see what we could have if we were together. We could be happy! I—" He cut off, frowning, and stared at the dim ground between us.

I waited, watching his whiskers twitch and his pawtips tap against one another as the seconds lengthened.

"Rose, I don't want to live without you anymore." The words came tumbling out in a rush. I felt him curl the tip of his tail around the back of my ankle and drew in my breath. My mother had always told me that if any malebeast ever dared to touch me like that I was to slap him across the face, but now that it had happened it only made me want to kiss him again.

I compromised and did neither. Instead, I said, "You fooled me. You seemed happy enough in Mossflower."

"I am—was—but now that I'm here with you I'm beginning to think that I would really be happier if we could stay here together."

"Oh."

There was silence for a moment. Then I spoke again. "Who says you're living without me at all?"

He snorted. "What do you mean? I haven't seen you since Marshank four and a half seasons ago! Haven't heard you sing, haven't stayed up all night talking to you, haven't found that I've been staring at you for five minutes without realizing it because you're even more beautiful than usual in the moonlight, haven't—I don't know—argued with you about something ridiculous even though I know you're right—" His voice had risen in volume, and he finally met my eyes. His gaze was full of confusion, desire, and pain, and it was hard not to flinch away. "That's what I want back—the little details of our life together, knowing that we'll always be there for each other!"

Silence rang again, except, I imagined, for the sound of the thousand tiny needles burying themselves in my heart. Any occasion that made my Martin actually talk about his emotions was not one to be taken lightly.

My voice cracked as I spoke. "Well, I suppose that couldcount as a ridiculous argument, if you'd like."

"Tuh." He turned his face away from me.

Fair enough. I tried again, caressing the back of his paw. "And that's just what I mean, too," I whispered, this time not bothering to try to hide the tremble in my voice. "We will always be there for each other. I will always be here waiting for you, but more importantly, I will always be here." I placed my other paw over his heart. It was beating very hard. Why did the signs of life always have to be so potent this close to the land of the dead?

This time he looked at me, frowning a little. "I don't understand."

"You have your happiness in Mossflower. You have your friends, you have your freedom, you have your sword, you have a home now. And since we have loved so deeply, we can't be separated. Nobeast and nothing can take that away from us."

Martin raised a paw to my face and touched it. "But that's not what I want. I want to have a normal life with you. Or a normal afterlife."

I couldn't stop my eyelids from fluttering closed at his touch, but I yanked them open and forced my voice to be steady. "I know you do. I want that too—more than I can tell you! But we can't. You need to finish living your life. You need to enjoy it! All your friends in Mossflower are counting on you now, and you have so much joy ahead of you, I promise! Just…know that I will always be there with you in spirit, even if we cannot be together for now."

More silence. Martin averted his gaze again as his paw dropped from my cheek. I shut my eyes and sighed. Warriors! Always so stubborn! Another wave of dizziness washed over me, and I swayed a little. When I opened my eyes Martin was looking at me again, this time with alarm.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. I told you, I'm not used to being outside of the Forest without my body yet." I managed a smile again. "Stop worrying about me. Focus on healing yourself. I'll be fine. It just takes time."

"I'll be fine, too. I'm worried about you."

Silence.

"Martin, does that mean you've decided to go back?"

More silence.

"I—I—yes, I suppose I have. I suppose I have to. For Mossflower." He smiled, but not with his eyes, and his voice sank to a whisper. "But for myself—"

I squeezed his paw, and I'm sure my smile didn't reach my eyes, either. "I think you made the right choice. For now you'll be happier there." I rose to my knees, and then hoisted myself to a standing position. "That's it, then. Once you've decided that, you can't stay here."

Martin stood as well, placing a steadying paw around my waist. He moved from footpaw to footpaw, testing his strength.

"I am feeling better. You're right. But I want to be with you, too."

"I know. I feel the same way. I'll be here when you get back."

"When?"

"Someday. A long time from now. I'm not sure exactly when, but this is the worst danger and it's over now. Enjoy it; I don't think our next life will be anytime soon, not if you feel the same way I do about it."

Martin smiled, but stopped quickly. He kissed my paw, half-turned away, then turned back and kissed the other paw. "I love you, Rose."

"I love you, too, Martin." I stepped back toward the Gates as he let go of my paws and started back the way he'd come.

No, he wasn't getting away that easily.

"Martin! Wait!" I called out as he began moving away down the winding path.

The Warrior turned. I saw puzzlement in his eyes for just a moment before my vision blurred with tears. Stifling a cry, I ran the short distance toward him. I did not worry about my shortness of breath; could not see the fuzzy spots that crowded the edge of my teary vision.

He caught me stiffly, surprise radiating from him. I wound my paws around his neck and kissed him again, feeling the love I knew I would not be able to express again for countless more seasons pound through my heart. Martin pulled away for just an instant, and then drew me close and returned the kiss, fierce, strong, passionate, with no hint of the tentative and slightly embarrassed mouse who had been kissing me earlier. I leaned into it, and felt the heat rising in the pit of my stomach to match. I'm usually not one for swooning, but I was too far from the Forest, and when I felt the tip of his tongue brushing my lips, I swayed on the spot and broke the kiss in the process.

My tears were falling fast by then, and I could see even less than before. I couldn't manage to speak in more than a whisper. "Never, ever doubt how much I love you, Martin of Mossflower."

I felt his paws shaking around me and realized then that he was crying, too. "I will never doubt it if you promise to always remember how much I love you, too, Laterose of Noonvale."

"I promise." I kissed him once more, tender and gentle this time, and then stepped away. Almost at once my head started to clear. I backed up until my shoulders found the rough wood of the Gates, and raised a paw in farewell. Martin returned the gesture and then headed back down the path towards the dancing festival lights on the unseen shore of Kotir lake.